How Much Can I Contribute to a 403(b)? Limits, Catch-Ups, and Roth Rules

For 2026, the 403(b) contribution limits let you defer up to $24,500 of your own salary, with catch-up contributions that can raise your personal total to $35,750 or more depending on age and years of service. The combined ceiling on employee and employer contributions is $72,000.¹²

The Base Employee Deferral Limit

$24,500 is the most you can contribute from your paycheck to a 403(b) in 2026.¹ This cap applies to you as a person, not to each plan. If you also participate in a 401(k) through a second job, your combined deferrals across all 403(b) and 401(k) accounts must fit under the same $24,500 ceiling.

You can split those deferrals between pre-tax and Roth in any proportion your plan allows. Pre-tax deferrals reduce your taxable income now and get taxed when you withdraw them in retirement. Roth deferrals are taxed upfront and grow tax-free, with qualified retirement withdrawals coming out tax-free. Both count toward the same $24,500 limit. A plan that offers Roth must also offer pre-tax; it cannot be Roth-only.³

Going over the limit is expensive. If you don’t withdraw the excess plus its earnings by April 15 of the following year, the same dollars get taxed twice: once in the contribution year and again when you eventually take the money out.⁴ That April 15 deadline does not move if you file a tax extension. Your plan reports the corrective distribution on Form 1099-R.⁵

Catch-Up if You’re 50 or Older

Turn 50 at any point in 2026 and you can add another $8,000 on top of the base limit, for a personal total of $32,500.¹ Even a December 31 birthday counts for the full year. You don’t have to show that you fell behind on saving earlier. The only conditions are your age and that your plan document permits catch-up contributions. Most do; confirm with HR or your plan administrator if you’re unsure.

Enhanced Catch-Up for Ages 60 Through 63

SECURE 2.0 added a larger catch-up for participants who are 60, 61, 62, or 63 at any point during the calendar year. For 2026, that group can defer $11,250 in catch-up contributions instead of the standard $8,000.¹ The enhanced amount replaces the standard age-50 catch-up during those four years; it doesn’t stack with it.⁶

Add that to the base deferral and someone aged 60 through 63 can contribute up to $35,750 from salary in 2026. Once you hit 64, you drop back to the standard $8,000 catch-up. The enhanced figure is indexed for inflation after 2025 and is set at the greater of $10,000 (adjusted) or 150 percent of the standard catch-up.⁶

The 15-Year Service Catch-Up

403(b) plans have a catch-up that 401(k)s don’t. If you’ve worked at least 15 years for the same qualifying employer, you may be able to defer an extra $3,000 per year, capped at $15,000 over your lifetime.⁷ These dollar amounts are written into the statute and don’t adjust for inflation.

Not every 403(b) sponsor qualifies. Eligible employers are limited to public school systems, hospitals, home health service agencies, health and welfare service agencies (including hospices, adoption agencies, and organizations serving the needy), churches, and church-related organizations.⁸ Your plan document also has to specifically permit the catch-up.

The amount you can actually use in a given year is the smallest of three figures:

$3,000.
$15,000 minus any 15-year catch-ups you’ve already used. If you’ve claimed $9,000 in prior years, $6,000 remains for the rest of your career.
$5,000 times your years of service, minus every elective deferral you’ve ever made to that employer’s plan. A zero or negative result means this catch-up isn’t available to you.⁹

You can use the 15-year catch-up and an age-based catch-up in the same year. Deferrals above the standard $24,500 are applied to the 15-year catch-up first, then to the age-based catch-up.⁷ A 62-year-old with 20 years of service at a qualifying hospital could defer up to $38,750 in 2026: $24,500 base, plus $3,000 for the 15-year catch-up, plus $11,250 for the age 60–63 catch-up.

Roth Requirement if You Earned Over $150,000

If your wages from your 403(b) employer in 2025 exceeded $150,000, any catch-up contributions you make in 2026 generally have to go into a designated Roth account rather than a pre-tax account.² The threshold looks at prior-year wages from the plan-sponsoring employer only, not total household income.

The timing is layered. The IRS granted a transition period through 2025 during which pre-tax catch-ups were still allowed regardless of income. For 2026, plans that aren’t governmental or collectively bargained are expected to apply a reasonable, good faith interpretation of the Roth requirement, with formal enforcement under the final regulations beginning for taxable years starting after December 31, 2026. Governmental plans have more time to comply.⁶

One carve-out matters here: the 15-year service catch-up is not treated as a catch-up under the section of the code that triggers the Roth rule. Those dollars can still be pre-tax even if you’re over the wage threshold.⁶ Only age-based catch-ups have to be Roth. If your plan doesn’t offer a Roth option yet, ask your administrator; the plan will need one for high earners to make any age-based catch-up at all under the new rule.

The Combined Employee and Employer Limit

Your employer may add matching or non-elective contributions to your account. A separate cap governs the total of your deferrals plus everything your employer puts in. For 2026, that combined ceiling is $72,000.² There’s also an alternative cap at 100 percent of your compensation for the year, and the lower of the two applies.¹⁰ Earn $55,000, and your effective combined limit is $55,000, not $72,000.

Catch-up contributions sit on top of the $72,000 ceiling. Both the age-based catch-ups and the 15-year service catch-up are excluded from this combined limit, so they don’t crowd out employer contributions.

1
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA Limit Increases to $7,500
2
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living
3
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plans FAQs on Designated Roth Accounts
4
Internal Revenue Service. Consequences to a Participant Who Makes Excess Deferrals to a 401(k) Plan
5
Internal Revenue Service. 403(b) Plan Fix-It Guide – Elective Deferrals
6
Federal Register. Catch-Up Contributions
7
Internal Revenue Service. 403(b) Plans – Catch-Up Contributions
8
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.403(b)-4 – Contribution Limitations
9
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – 403(b) Contribution Limits
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 415 – Limitations on Benefits and Contribution Under Qualified Plans